Autopsy based one year prospective study of death due to hanging

Amongst all form of asphyxial death, hanging is most frequently encountered by forensic experts. Easy availability and presence of wide range of ligature materials at home itself makes hanging a preferred method of committing suicide over other methods. Findings over neck vary from case to case depending upon various factors like position of knot over neck, composition of ligature material, duration of suspension etc. The present prospective study was carried out in the Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, M.G.M. Medical College & M.Y. Hospital, Indore, during the period from 1st August 2017 to 31st July 2018 and includes a total of 203 cases of death due to Hanging, brought to the mortuary of the hospital for medico-legal postmortem examination. Male victims were 137 (67.5%) and females were 66 (32.5%). The majority of victims belonged to 3rd decade among males were 49 (24.1%), followed by 4th decade were 44 (21.7%) while 2nd decade was most common among females were 25 (12.3%), followed by 3rd decade were 24 (11.8%). The objective of the study was to understand various demographic profile and various aspects of deaths due to hanging so as to suggest some remedial measures.